Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech admits he's a big fan of Barcelona star Lionel Messi.

Cech has lauded Messi and his Barcelona team-mates, but believes Chelsea can triumph in their Champions League semi-final, the first leg of which is at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.

Cech told his personal website: "Barcelona alone are an exceptional team with a fantastic generation of players and he is the most exceptional among the exceptional. He is even better than the rest.

"Messi in his current form is an enormous threat. He is for sure one of the best players in the world but, as I said before, no team is invincible.

"His ball technique is superb but, most importantly, he can react to how the game develops. At the last possible moment in any situation he can find the ideal solution. There are a lot of ways that Messi can finish an attack.

"On the other hand, he is also only human and, if we perform to 100%, we will be able to defend against him."